[4K Review] Lumintop FW21 - Epic FAIL

This is the 21700 version of the FW3A, the only problem is…

Oops ! :person_facepalming: A spring of some sorts would have been handy…

Also surprising they didn’t give it the quad head.

Tnx for the review.

Lumintop told me it will run off a 75mm+ protected 21700 but I’m guessing the output will be even lower than what I got with a 30Q :cry:

But i assume they just didn’t put a (beryllium copper) spring on the driver, which would have solved everything.

Now you’re forced to mess around with magnets, i guess…

I can do that or solder but it’s not something I’d suggest to do in my reviews as loose metal in the head could pose a risk.

Interesting. All my unprotected cells, including the 40T, the Tesla, my Sofirns, and my new Molicel batteries work fine. No rattles. Even my giant Rofis protected cell works fine. I wonder if they have changed the spring?

Well i intentionaly bought the one for longer batteries. Added spring and bypass wire on the tail...

Now i can run any kind of batteries plus output is just savage.

LOVE IT!!!

I wouldn’t want loose metal in my head!

An interesting incoming item today from Flashaholics, the FW21 that was used for this review. I got it at a reasonably cheap price via ebay, but it was more of an impulse buy out of curiosity, than a considered purchase. I love my FW3A XP-L HI CW, so I was interested to see how this would compare and if I don’t like it, it gives me a host to mod.

First the good news; a protected 21700 cell fits and works perfectly in this light, it’s almost as if that’s what they used in development :smiley: I’m using an AmpsPlus 21700 5000mAh 10/15A cell, which is 74.5mm long.
AmpsPlus is a good quality UK assembled brand and this 21700 uses a Japan manufactured cell. So all is good on the battery front and I actually quite like having a protected cell in this type of light. I like the size of the FW21 and the extra run-time is always a winner.

However, the ~1600lm output from the 4000K SST20’s, is underwhelming to say the least. Most of my lights are 6500K, I like bright white and plenty of lumens. So the emitters will be swapped out for an XP-L HI 1A triple at the very least and I will probably bling it up a bit with some trits.

All in all, a good light, with the extra few mm in the battery tube being a serendipitous bonus! :+1:

I’d be interested in the SST’s if you wanted to sell once you’ve swapped them out. Do you know what tint bin they are?

I think Luminus recommended lower amp rated 21700 cells for the high CRI LED’s but I’m not 100%

TBH it was OK brightness with the 30T and I didn’t want to drop down by using a protected 21700.

I’ll probably find another use for them myself tbh, I’ve usually got something on the go that I’m tinkering with, but I’ll give you a shout if I decide I don’t need them.

No worries, I just saw you mentioned you preferred cooler tints, so if they’re not to your liking let me know :slight_smile: